O’Toole letter: Scouts tax

I urge readers of the Idaho Statesman to stand up for two of our state’s most valuable youth development organizations by supporting legislation that exempts local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts from tax on the occasional sale of food products. Primarily, this refers to the Boy Scouts annual popcorn sale and the Girl Scouts annual cookie sale. The collective impact of the exemption would positively affect more than 40,000 Scouts in Idaho.

The legislation is HB449. It has passed the Idaho House of Representatives and is now in the hands of the Senate Local Government & Taxation Committee for approval to move forward for a vote on the Senate floor. Idaho is one of only two states that collect tax on Girl Scout cookies, yet attempts at legislation for an occasional sales tax exemption have been unsuccessful twice over the past three years.

We need your help to get HB449 on the Senate floor so it has a fair chance to succeed. You can help us by contacting your local senator and the members of the Senate Local Government & Taxation Committee. You can find them at legislature.idaho.gov/who’smylegislator.htm.

Thank you for using your voice to support Idaho Scouts.

This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 11:29 PM with the headline "O’Toole letter: Scouts tax."